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the papers of 

The Johnson Family 

of Connecticut 

BY 

MAX FARRAND 



Reprinted from the Proceedings op the American Antiquarian Society 
por October, 1913. 



WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, U. S. A. 
PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY 
1913. 



. 5 






JUL 15 'l-M 



/ 



THE PAPERS OF THE JOHNSON FAMILY 
OF CONNECTICUT 



BY MAX FARRAND. 



The Johnson family, the disposition of whose papers 
is to be described, is one of which the people of the United 
States and of New England in particular have reason to 
be proud. It is a family distinguished for the services its 
members have rendered to the community Hkwhich they 
may happen to have settled, to their colony and state, 
whichever that might be, and to their nation. It is a 
family whose tradition has been that of public service. 

Robert Johnson with his wife and four sons first ap- 
peared in New Haven in 1641. The branch of the fam- 
ily with which we are concerned identified itself first 
with Guilford where Robert's son William and his son 
Samuel were leading men of the town and of the Con- 
gregational Church. 

In the next generation Samuel Johnson, a graduate of 
Yale in 1714 and later a tutor in that institution, was 
ordained in the Congregational Church in 1720. There 
were evidently doubts in his own mind, however, for 
two years later he announced his conviction of the superi- 
or claims of the Episcopal ordination, and the following 
year, after studying in England, he was ordained in the 
Anglican Church. Upon his return to this country he 
was the first Episcopal clergyman in Connecticut, and 
as such he was a man of consideration and of power in 
New England. He built the first Episcopal church in 
the colony at Stratford, in which town he settled and 
which has remained the place with which this branch of 
the Johnson family has been most closely associated. 



With his Church interests and connections it was 
inevitable that Samuel Johnson should be associated 
with men and affairs in New York, and with his ability 
it was natural that he should be concerned with the pro- 
ject of the establishment of a college under the auspices 
of the Church and that he should be the first president 
of King's College in New York City. This position he 
retained from 1754 to 1763. 

His son, William Samuel Johnson, was rightly regarded 
as one of the most learned men of his time in this country. 
A lawyer of ability and reputation he became a member of 
the colonial legislature, he was a delegate to the Stamp 
Act Congress, and a special agent of Connecticut in 
London in 1766-1771. He could not bring himself to 
take an active part against England and after the Dec- 
laration of Independence he withdrew from public life. 
This did not, however, cost him the respect of his fellow 
countrymen, for at the close of the Revolution he 
represented Connecticut in Congress, he was one of the 
delegates from Connecticut to the convention which 
framed the Constitution of the United States, and he 
was elected the first United States senator from Con- 
necticut. At the time of the Federal Convention in 
Philadelphia he was elected president of the college over 
which his father had presided, and he resigned his 
United States senatorship that he might devote his time 
to the presidency of Columbia, which he did until his 
retirement in 1800. 

It is not the province of this paper to present a detailed 
genealogical record of the Johnson family, or even of its 
more distinguished members. Suffice it to say, that while 
the two men whom we have considered may have been 
the most prominent, other members of the family have 
rendered services as unselfish and as efficient, though 
perhaps less conspicuous, in every learned profession as 
well as in business, and they have been highly respected 
and honored members of their communities. Enough 
has been given to identify the family for present pur- 
poses. 



The history of such a family is a part of the history of 
our nation, and the family papers are a part of our 
country's records. It seems well, therefore, that a 
statement should be made for the benefit of students 
or other persons interested as to where these papers can 
be found, and no more fitting medium of communication 
exists than in the Proceedings of this local and yet 
national organization, the American Antiquarian Society. 

At one time or another by various means some of the 
papers had found their way into several depositories, but 
the bulk of the family papers remained until a few years 
ago at the Johnson homestead in Stratford, Connecticut, 
where Mrs. Susan E. Johnson Hudson, a great, great 
granddaughter of Samuel Johnson, has resided. 

Some two or three years ago an opportunity was given 
to the writer to examine these papers and, because of 
his interest and professional connection, his opinion was 
requested as to the best disposition to be made of them. 
One naturally thinks that a collection of family papers 
should be kept together in one place, but there were seri- 
ous if not insuperable obstacles in the present instance. 
As already stated some of the papers had already been 
scattered, and the claims from different sources upon the 
guardians of the family papers were conflicting and con- 
fusing. 

It seeming impossible to deposit the papers in any one 
place without creating more dissatisfaction than could 
be compensated for by the gain of a single collection of 
such as remained, it was determined to recommend a 
division of the papers upon lines which had been indicated 
by those papers which had already passed out of the fam- 
ily control. Such papers as were of great national im- 
portance should be deposited in the Library of Congress ; 
such as related to Columbia and the early history of 
the Episcopal Church in this country should be deposited 
in the library of Columbia University; while the bulk 
of the family papers, inasmuch as they related particu- 
larly to Connecticut, should be deposited in that State, 
and the natural place of deposit would be the Connec- 



6 

ticut Historical Society at Hartford. This dispositon 
was approved by the guardians of the papers, and in 
accordance with their instructions, the papers were so 
distributed. 

Personal letters later than 1865 were returned to the 
family. 

THE JOHNSON PAPERS. 

Attention should he called to the fact that some of the 
Johnson Papers have already been printed in T. B. Chandler, 
Life of Samuel Johnson, New York, 1805, and in E. Edwards 
Beardsley, Life and Correspondence of Samuel Johnson, New 
York, 1874, and in the same author's Life and Times of William 
Samuel Johnson, New York, 1876. 

There were also printed in Documents relating to the Colonial 
History of New York, vols, vi and vii, over twenty letters, 
mostly taken from the Lambeth Place Manuscripts, of cor- 
respondence between Reverend Samuel Johnson and the 
Archbishop of Canterbury (1753-1763). 

Forty-three letters from William Samuel Johnson, agent 
for Connecticut in London, 1761-1771, addressed to Govern- 
ors Pitkin and Trumbull, are in the possession of the Massa- 
chusetts Historical Society and were printed in that Society's 
Collections, 5th series, vol. ix, pp. 211-490, Boston, 1885. 

The rest of the papers are at present distributed as follows : 

LIBRARY OP CONGRESS. 

Thirteen papers relating to the Stamp Act Congress of 1765 
and to the controversy between Great Britain and the colonies, 
one of which is a draft of a petition to the king in the writing 
of John Rutledge, and quite different from either of the 
petitions adopted. 

Two manuscripts of July 23 and July 26, 1787, relating to 
proceedings in Congress on a sale of lands in Ohio. 

Three documents relating to the Federal Convention of 
1787. 

Printed draft of the Virginia Plan, with annotations in the 

handwriting of William Samuel Johnson. 
Printed draft of August 6, with all the changes made in 
the convention through September 3, in the hand- 
writing of the secretary of the convention, William 
Jackson. 
Printed draft of September 12, 1787, being the report of 
the Committee on Style, with annotations in the hand- 
writing of William Samuel Johnson, chairman. 



A few miscellaneous letters, including letters to and from 
William Samuel Johnson, of minor importance, some letters 
of Millard Fillmore, and quite a number of broadsides and 
manuscripts relating to the later Continental Congress and 
to the first Congress of the United States. 

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. 

Manuscript works by Samuel Johnson, 37 

Letters from him (1713-1767), 328 

Letters to him (1715-1773), 138 

Among the letters to President Johnson are several from 
Myles Cooper, the second president of King's College, Ben- 
jamin Franklin, and others. 

Manuscript sermons and prayers, 109 

Manuscripts relating to King's College and Columbia, 16 
There are some 50 letters from and to William Samuel 
Johnson, (1747-1813) relating to Columbia, together with vari- 
ous manuscripts and pamphlets relating to the early history 
of King's College and the College of Physicians and Surgeons. 

CONNECTICUT HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 

Papers presented in 1840: 

Vol. I. Letters written by William Samuel Johnson, 1767 
to 1770, with a few as late as 1793. They number 115. 

Among them are letters to Eliphalet Dyer, Thomas Fitch, 
Samuel Gray, Matthew Griswold, Jabez Huntington, Jared 
Ingersoll, Jeremiah Miller, William Pitkin, Jonathan Trum- 
bull, Nathan Whiting, William Williams. 

Vol. 2. Letters written to William Samuel Johnson, 1760 
to 1790. They number 136. 

Among them are letters from Dyer, Fitch, Griswold, Pitkin, 
Trumbull, Whiting and Williams (above) ; also from Joseph 
Chew, Silas Deane, Timothy D wight, Benjamin Gale, Samuel 
Huntington, Jesse Root, Roger Sherman, Jeremiah Wads- 
worth. 

Vol. 3. Papers and letters relating to the Mohegan Indians 
and the controversy over their lands, originals and copies, 
some of them of considerable length. Some of the copies 
are of documents dated as early as 1658. The original letters 
are from 1742 to 1773. They number 98. 

Among them are letters written by Dyer, Fitch, J. Hunting- 
ton, Pitkin, Trumbull, Williams (above); also by Richard 
Jackson and by William Samuel Johnson. Not all of the 
letters are written to Johnson. 

Vol. 4. Letters, with a few documents, relating to the 
controversy over the Susquehannah Lands, 1754 to 1787. 
They number 45. 



8 

Among them are letters written by Dyer, Griswold, S. 
Huntington, Trumbull, Sherman (above) ; also by Ethan Allen, 
Joseph Trumbull, and by William Samuel Johnson. Not 
all of the letters are written to Johnson. 

Papers recently presented: 

Journals Nov. 1766 to Oct. 1771. 

Journal brought from England (of little interest). 

Letter books 1746-1748, 1754-1762, about 70 letters. 

Letter books 1764-1765, 1771-1774, 268 sm. f° pp. 

Letter Books 1751-1754, 1762-1764, 324 8° pp. 

Copies of 16 letters 1784-1792. 

Memorandum books 1759-1760, 1762-1765, 1785-1787. 

Accounts with State of Conn., 1784-1787. 

Catalogue of books read 1753-1764. 

Marriage contract 1800; and agreement with Samuel William 
Johnson and Robert C. Johnson because of said contract 
1803. 

Col. Dimon's proceedings on occasion of accusation of treason 
against W. S. J. 1799. 

Memoranda for his life, communicated by him. 

Superior Court diary, 1772-1774. 

Volume of County Court dockets 1764-1766, 1771-1772. 

Volume of County and Superior Court dockets, 1775-1786. 

Law briefs, 1749-1758. 

Documents, papers, opinions, etc., in various court cases, 
two packages. s 

Deeds, personal accounts, book debts due him, etc. 

Papers in settlement of his estate. 

Letters written by him about 1762 to 1795 to various persons, 
numbering 241. 

Among these are letters to Rev. Abraham Beach, Jeremy 
Belknap, Dr. Burton, Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. 
Chandler, Col. Chester, Joseph Chew, Cadwallader Colden, 
Rev. Myles Cooper, Tench Coxe, Rev. Daggett, Lord 
Dartmouth, James Duane, Timothy Dwight, Eliphalet 
Dyer, Benjamin Gale, Jared Ingersol, Richard Jackson, 
Jeremiah Learning, George Livius, Lord Bishop of London, 
Jeremiah Miller, James Otis, Bishop of Oxford, John 
Pownall, Gov. William Pitkin, Lawrence Reade, Richard 
Saltonstall, Roger Sherman, Gov. William Shirley, Eben- 
ezer Silliman, Robert Temple, Agur Tomlinson, Jonathan 
Trumbull, Jeremiah Wadsworth, Col. Nathan Whiting, 
Edward Winslow. 

Letters written by him to other members of the family. To 
Samuel William Johnson, 1785-1828, 79 

Susan Johnson, 1799-1853, 85 



9 

Ann Johnson, 1766-1790, 35 

Robert C. Johnson, 1786-1795, 20 

Miscellaneous, 15 

Letters written to him about 1750 to 1795 by various 
persons, numbering 168. 

Among them are letters from William Bayard, Jeremy 
Belknap, D. Burton, George Chapman, T. B. Chandler, 
Joseph Chew, Tench Coxe, Admiral G. Darby, James 
Duane, Pierpont Edwards, Benjamin Gale, Jared Ingersol, 
Richard Jackson, Cave Jones, Jeremiah Learning, John 
Ledyard, Bishop of London, Godfrey Malbone, Josiah 
Meigs, Stephen M. Mitchell, James Otis, Bishop of Oxford, 
Thomas Palmer, Samuel H. Parsons, Samuel Peters, Tim- 
othy Pickering, Thomas Pownall, Lawrence Reade, Nathan- 
iel Rogers, Comfort Sage, Roger Sherman, William Smith, 
Benjamin Stiles, Jonathan Sturgis, Robert Temple, Agur 
Tomlinson, Jonathan Trumbull, Jonathan Trumbull, Jr., 
Jeremiah Wadsworth, Chauncey Whittlesey, George Wyl- 
lys. 
Letters written to him by other members of the family. By 
Samuel William Johnson, 1785-1802, 37 

Miscellaneous, 15 

SAMUEL WILLIAM JOHNSON. 

Letters written by him to Gov. Hamilton of Bermuda, 
and to Ann F. Edwards, Elizabeth, Nancy, Robert C, Susan 
Johnson, and others, 42 

Journal of a journey from Stratford to Fayetteville, N. C, 
and return, 1799-1800. 
Paper on war with France. 
Small receipt and account book, 1790-1803. 
His admission to the Bar, 1783. 
Letters written to him, numbering 40. 

Among these are letters from Gov. William Browne, 
Gov. Hamilton of Bermuda, Samuel Peters, John Cotton 
Smith. 

(See William Samuel Johnson papers for letters written 
to him by Samuel William Johnson.) 

Susan Johnson. 
Letters written by her. 178 

Among these are 87 written to Mrs. Faith Trumbull, 
and 56 to Samuel William Johnson, with others to Ann, 
Edwards and Sarah Johnson. 

Journal of a journey from Stratford to Fayetteville, N. C, 
and other places, 1801-1802. 
Letters written to her. 
Among these are 18 written by Mrs. Faith Wadsworth. 



10 

Ann F. Johnson. 
Letters written by her, 108 

Among these are 70 written to Susan Johnson and 

19 to Samuel William Johnson. 
Religious Journals, 1814-1839. 

Letters written to her, 8 

Other members of family, 24 

MOHEGAN CASE. 

Deeds, leases, and other papers, both originals and copies, 
including several original documents signed by the Indians; 
briefs, notes, and memoranda on the case; letters, arguments, 
memoranda of evidence given, reports, petitions, etc. — some 
of the documents in William Samuel Johnson's handwriting — 
dating about 1658 to 1770. About 170. 

Manuscript [probably printer's "copy"] of Governor and 
Company of Connecticut and Mohegan Indians. Certified 
copy of Book of Proceedings before Commissioners of Review, 
1743. [This was printed at London, 1769]. 

"A Plan of the east Part of the Colony of Connecticut in 
North America shewing the Situation of the Lands in Con- 
troversy between the Inhabitants of that Colony and the 
Mohegan Indians." [3 copies]. 
Papers relating to Stockbridge Indians, 6 

FAMILY PAPERS. 

Inscriptions on Johnson monuments. 

Johnson family pedigree. 

Papers in estate of Charity Kneeland. 

G. C. Verplanck letter. 

Miscellaneous deeds and briefs, in part Johnson. 

Miscellaneous bonds, stocks, notes, etc. 

Family deeds, agreements, etc. 

Miscellaneous papers of Ann Woolsey. 

Copies of wills of William (1751) and Sarah Beach (1758). 

Laura Woolsey's album, containing extracts, sentiments and 

original contributions written by well-known people of 

Hartford and elsewhere, about 1819. 
Johnson arms. 

MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS. 

Gurdon Saltonstall to Henry Ashhurst, 1711. 
Sarah Edwards to Anna Huntington, 1758. 
C. Browne to her husband Gov. William Browne. 
Benjamin Gale to Dr. Huxham, 1766. 

David Ramsey to , 1785. 

H. Ledlie to , 1787. 



11 

Benjamin Hallock to Col. Richard Floyd, 1763. 
Col. Benjamin's claim (Revolution). 
Abraham Beach about Noah Hobart, 1812. 
William Smith to Jonathan Trumbull, 1783. 

Abijah Beach to , 1775. 

Bishop of London to Dr. Auchmuty, (copy). 

H. S. Conway to Colony of Conn, about repeal of Stamp Act, 

1766. 
Colony of Conn, to H. S. Conway about repeal of Stamp Act, 

1766. 
Colony of Conn, instructions to Richard Jackson. 
Instructions of freemen of New Haven to their Representatives 

in General Assembly about Stamp Act. 
Dr. Gale's remarks on innoculation. 

ECCLESIASTICAL. 

Stratford church about a minister, 1722. 

George Pigot to Stratford church, 1722. 

David Humphreys to church of England in Conn., 1722. 

Stratford inhabitants power of attorney to William James, 

1710. 
Papers relating to Episcopal Church and Glebe house in 

Stratford, 32. 
Samuel Peters' account of salary paid to Episcopal ministers 

at Stratford, 1771-1785. 
History of Episcopal church in Ulster Co., N. Y. 
Stratford church to Lord Bishop of London and Society for 

Propagating the Gospel (1771?). 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Papers relative to Ohio lands bought of Isaac Mills and 

George Hoadly and necessary to show title of said lands, 35 
Vermont claims of land against New Hampshire and 

New York [copies], 2 

Original grant of town of Pocock, N. H., 1762. 
Briefs relating to "Gore" land, about 1800, 2 

Papers relating to legal cases, controversies about lands, 

etc. 3 packages. 
Papers relating to W. Scarborough's voyage to Canton, 

1838, 20 

Records and accounts of Proprietors of bed of iron ore at 

Merry All in Kent, 1758-1795. 
Kent iron works papers, several. 

Sermon by Rev. Daniel Browne at Covent Garden, 1723. 
Catalogue of students at Litchfield Law School, 1817. 
G. G. Beckman papers, W. S. Johnson attorney, 1787-9. 11 



12 

Sketch of Richard Edwards by his son Timothy Edwards, 

written about 1718. 
Susquehannah claim stated, and notes arguments, etc., 

on the Susquehannah case. 14 documents, some of 

them long, one of 75 pages. 

PRINTED MATTER. 

Report of Commissioners to treat with Proprietaries of 

Pennsylvania. Norwich, 1774. 
The Susquehannah Case. [Norwich, 1774] 
Right of Governor and Company of Conn, to lands west of 

New York. Hartford, 1773. 
Trumbull, Benjamin. Plea in Vindication of Conn, title. 

New Haven, 1774. 
Avery, Samuel. Susquehannah Controversy Examined. 

Wilkesbarre, 1803. 
[Statement relative to Conn, claimants in Pennsylvania.] 

folio. 8pp. 
[Petition to General Assembly of Conn, about Susquehannah 

matters, 1774.] folio, 2pp. 
Governor and Company of Connecticut and the Mohegan 

Indians. Certified copy of Book of Proceedings before 

Commissioners of Review, 1743. London, 1769. 
Mohegan Indians against Governor and Company of Conn. 

Case of the Governor and Company. 1800. 
[Same.] Appendix to Case of the Governor and 

Company [1770]. 

-[Same.] Summary of Case of the Governor and 



Company. [1770]. 



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